Bengali Poem Recitation

Poem Amalkanti by Nirendranath Chakraborty

Amalkanti is my friend,
We did our schooling together.
He often came late, never knew his lessons,
When asked about some word-meaning
He used to be looking at the window dumbfounded,
We felt really bad for him.

Some of us wanted to be teachers, some doctors, some lawyers.
Amalkanti didn’t want to be any of those.
He wanted to be sunlight!
That timid sunlight of rain-washed, crow-drenched late afternoon,
Which sticks around the leaves of jamun and rose-apple like a chuckle.

Some of us have become teachers, some doctors, some lawyers.
Amalkanti couldn’t become sunlight.
He works in a dim lighted press.
Sometime comes to see me,
We drink tea, chit-chat for a while, and then he says "I’ll go."
I see him off at the door.

The one among us who’s a teacher,
Could easily have become a doctor.
The one who’d wanted to be a doctor,
It wouldn’t have made much difference if he was a lawyer.
Still everyone got their wish fulfilled, except Amalkanti.
Amalkanti couldn't become the sunlight.
That Amalkanti, who used to think of sunlight so much
That who wanted to become sunlight.

Music by: Ravi Shankar
Voice recorded at home

Amal Kanti

Bengali Poem Recitation
Poem by: Helal Hafiz
Music by: Shivkumar Sharma
Voice recorded at home

Ichhe Chhilo Raja Habo

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Poem Manush (Human) by Nirmalendu Goon

Maybe I’m no human, humans are different;
They can walk, sit, and wander from one room to another,
Humans are different; they are afraid of death, scared of snakes.

Maybe I’m no human; I go standing alone all day,
Standing alone all day like a tree.
Snakes raise no fear within me; I don’t even sing a song while watching a movie,
I’ve not drunk for years.
How come am I still alive, thinking and painting,
The way I go alive from morning to evening strange indeed
When I think I’m alive the way I am, I feel strange.

Maybe I’m no human; if I were I’d have a pair of shoes of my own, 
I’d have a home of my own, a room
I’d get warmed in the embrace of my woman at night,
On top of my tummy a child would have painted.

Maybe I’m no human;
Why do I laugh when I see the empty blue sky if I were human?
Humans are different; hands they have,
Nose they have, eyes like yours,
Beautiful blue eyes they have
They are committed to each other.

If I were a human, I’d have scars on my thigh, 
I’d have the sign of anger on my eye, 
I’d have a mother, 
I’d have a father; I’d have a sister, 
I’d have a woman who'd have loved me, 
I’d have fear of accidents or a sudden death.

Maybe I’m no human,
If I were a human, I could not write poems on you, 
I could not pass the long night without you.

Humans, they flee away when they see snakes;
Whereas fleeing away instead, mistaking them as my friends
I approach them, embrace them.

Music by: Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia
Voice recorded at home

niyamat

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